My son walked out of the bathroom with my wedding band.

"Is this the 'One Ring' Mommy?"

"Yes it is and I rule all."

I couldn't stop laughing.  What will he say next?

or maybe I'm just tired.

My three year old son has decided that it is better to sleep in Monday thru Friday, to put off having to go to the babysitter's house.  During the week, we have to go into his room and "find" him as he burrows into his blankets and says "it's not wake-up time Mommy/Daddy".  Saturdays and Sundays, he wakes up at ungodly hours; the better to enjoy his 'days off'.

What does this have to do with my being tired of Pirates?

This morning I woke up with a Pirate hat on my head...at 6:30...and Dylan was bouncing up and down, singing, "yo ho ho, a Pirates life for me!"

6:30 A.M.

At 6:30 this morning, I had only been in my bed for 45 minutes (asleep for about 30), after having spent the past few hours unsuccessfully trying to extract my right arm from Dylan's death grip.  He had woken up at 1:15 from bad dreams and wanted me to lay with him because he was "having problems" (his words, not mine).  Every time I thought he was asleep and would get up to leave, he would wake up crying "No Mommy, don't go. Lay with me".  He finally fell asleep wrapped around my arm like a boa constrictor; I'm amazed that I have any use of that arm today.

I'm not a morning person.  At 6:30, I am barely human when I've had plenty of sleep, but when I've had 30 minutes of sleep, I'm positively inhuman.  Communicating with a toddler...impossible.

Dyl:  MOOOOOOM!

Me:  mmph

Dyl:  MOM.

Me:  whph yugh awnt?

Dyl:  Mom, I NEED you to talk to me. (His favorite new line)

Me:  mmph...It's sleepy time, come lay down.

Me:  Why is there a pirate hat on my head?

Dyl:  You're Mommy Pirate and I'm Dylan Pirate. (duh)

Me:  Please stop bouncing on the bed.

Dyl:  It's a Pirate Ship.  (double duh)

Me:  Please stop bouncing on the Pirate Ship.

Dyl:  The waves are making me move.

Me:  There aren't any waves in my room.

Dyl:  I'm 'tending Mom.  (okaaay)

Me:  Why is your screwdriver in my face?

Dyl:  It's your Pirate sword. 


Apparently, at 6:30, I have no imagination either.  Fortunately, my dear husband (who had been quietly chuckling) got out of bed and said, "C'mon Pirate Dylan, let's let Mommy sleep".

Yup, definitely tired of Pirates...maybe it's time to introduce Dylan to cowboys.

Wait a sec...they get up early too. 

So maybe not.

YouTube Sensation Susan Boyle Hits the U.S.

By Stephen M. Silverman

YouTube marvel Susan Boyle, the Scottish singing sensation who last weekend stunned the judges of the Britain's Got Talent TV show – including cynical Simon Cowell – has hit American shores.

In what was billed as her "first U.S. performance," Boyle responded to CBS's The Early Show hosts Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith's request that she sing and reprised her signature "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical Les Miserables – and, after rendering it a cappella, not only nailed it, but won accolades from Broadway's Patti LuPone, who first introduced the song in 1985.

"Susan," said LuPone, speaking over the phone on the Early Show, "you've got pluck, girl."

Boyle, 47, said from her home in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland, that when she was younger people made fun of her. Now, the reaction is anything but that. "Everyone wishes me very well," she says. As for the international reaction, especially online, Boyle modestly admitted, "It hasn't maybe sunk in yet."

What turned Boyle's world around was her Britain's Got Talent appearance. After her entrance triggered snickers and patronizing comments – especially when the dowdy and slightly jumpy Boyle said she wanted to be the next Elaine Paige, a petite blonde British stage musical star – Boyle picked up the microphone and magically delivered "I Dreamed a Dream."

A Tribute to Her Mother

The result? The audience melted, then stood up and cheered, and after the judges closed their gaping mouths, Cowell termed her performance "extraordinary," while fellow judge Piers Morgan admitted she was the biggest surprise he'd ever experienced on the show.

Leaving the stage after her number, Boyle – an unemployed charity worker who lives with her cat, Pebbles, and, until recently, had cared for her ailing mother, now deceased – immediately seemed to take it all in stride, until it hit her how much she had wowed the crowd. "Breathtaking, unbelievable, awesome," Boyle now says of the reaction to her.

To summon the courage to take her act to TV, Boyle said, "You have to take yourself seriously, so what I did was concentrate on the song." She added, "I wanted to make this a tribute to my mother. I knew this was something I had to do."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

and am going to love him forever!

I'm a  big dork and call in to win prizes from our local radio station. I've been trying to win the two-fer tickets to Disneyland (a pass for D-land one day and CA. Adventures another) for the past two weeks. 

Yesterday morning, I'd just turned my blow dryer off when I heard the morning DJ say, "remember George Lucas".

Forty minutes later, I'd just dropped my husband off at work when they announced that caller 10 would win the tix IF they could answer a question correctly.

I dialed. Busy.  Dialed again. Busy.  Over and over , busy, busy. I thought it was hopeless, I'd been dialing for two minutes. How could they not have the correct answer?  I was about to hang up when the phone started to ring.  I held my breathe, they answered.  Without waiting I yelled out, "George Lucas".  The DJ, laughed and asked if I was ready to answer (apparently, I jumped the gun, you're supposed to wait for them to ask the question.)  Turns out, I was caller 12 but the two before me had answered incorrectly.

The question was, In 1955, when Disneyland opened, an 11-year old boy visited on opening day and was inspired.  Years later, he would make his own mark on Disneyland. Who was the boy?

Yep, George Lucas. 

I forgive him for the aliens of Indy 3 and the silliness of Episodes 1, 2 and 3.  Because of him, I'm going to DISNEYLAND!!

Today was Easter and it got me thinking about family and it left me feeling melancholy.

For the fourth year, I've spent Easter away from my parents and siblings.  That in itself isn't too extraordinary, when I worked for TJ's, I would work on Easter Sunday and couldn't see them, but this is different.  My mother doesn't care for my husband, the father of my son and her only grandchild; she does her best to pretend that he doesn't exist.  This has caused a wedge between us and unfortunately, the others have been hurt in the process.

Granted, our courtship was...unconventional, but he is the man I chose and I love him completely. He is a wonderful husband and father, but she won't see that. Instead, she chooses to base her dislike on assumptions and misunderstandings.  She doesn't understand why I won't visit alone (my husband was not welcome in her home), why I choose not to see them, yet I do so because of the things she taught me while I was growing up.  You stand up for your family, protect them and you don't let people disrespect the people you love. 

She brings religion into it and that just pushes me away further. She uses it to justify her actions, but it's hypercritical. The God that she 'prays' to loves unconditionally, is forgiving and does not judge. How does that fit her actions?

I know that eventually, this will work out, but my mother is stubborn (that's where I get it from) so I don't know how long it will take.

It makes me sad, but I'm not going to let it ruin the fact that I had a wonderful day. We spent the early part of the day with my husband's grandparents and the afternoon with my aunts and grandmother.  Dylan played with my cousins who are two and five; they chased eachother thru the house and yard. It was so much fun to watch.

I hope you all had a wonderful day as well.

I love my husband's family, I genuinely do.  They are extremely loving and fun, and have welcomed me into their family with open arms.  That said, I'm beginning to worry about the fact that whenever we have plans to spend time with them, something is usually physically wrong with me. 

Today we had dinner with his grandparents to celebrate grandma's birthday and our anniversary (3/31) and I have a head cold.  Three weeks ago, for his brother's birthday, I had a migraine; for his mother's birthday, it was stomach issues.  The list goes on.

It's stressful because I'm not very sociable when sick, so I have to push myself to interact with everyone. 

So what's the deal?

Could I be allergic to my husband's family? 
Is it guilt about not spending more time with my own?
Am I trying to keep them from being too close?
Or do I just have a poor immune system and tend to over analyze?

Meeegs brought me her copy (not mine, she didn't have it with her) of 'Magic Strikes' today while I was at work; that was about 12:45 this afternoon.  Let me tell you, it was torture not being able to pick it up and start reading it right then and there.  I started reading it around 6:30, and because I'm somewhat out of commission right now, my husband fed our boy, put him to bed and generally left me alone to recuperate and read. 

I love to read, will read almost anything, but there are very few books (and series) that leave me anxiously awaiting their arrival; this series is one of them.  When Meegs first gave me 'Magic Bites', I read the back and thought, "a good time filler" (sorry Meegs, but it's true).  I was wrong. I finished it that night and asked for the second book. When I asked for the third and was told I would have to wait, let's just say I wasn't very happy. I pestered Meegs for more info and over the past few months, she's kept me updated. The story just grabbed me.

I can now say it was worth the wait.  I've been on my couch for the past hours reading and re-reading it. My husband has had to listen to me reading the parts I thought funny out loud, of course he didn't quite understand, but he would throw in a chuckle just the same. 

Thank you Meeegs and thank you Ilona for creating such an engrossing world.

Of course, now I have to wait for the fourth book, but I can keep up with it on my own...but I'll still probably bug Meeegs for any additional info...can't break a tradition after all.